It's my opinion that Nikko Lacastro and Ricky Wysocki are the two best putters playing in professional disc golf right now. I know there are tons of threads about Nikko's putt but there are few about Ricky. I wanted to contrast the two similar styles and I'm having great results with both and wanted to discuss the in and outs of the two styles.

Both are push putters with a mostly straddle stance. Ricky has a very slight left foot back stagger and Nikko with stagger his stance too alot but still has the same arm motion and release.

The biggest difference in my eyes between the two is that Nikko releases the disc more hyzer and follows through to where his hand is almost up around his head/chin area on the finish. It's more like a lazy softball pitch.

In contrast Ricky has that sudden steely stop that causes the disc to eject from his hands. He gets a good pop from his torso coming up which causes his staggered back left foot to do a small step forward. Great micro weight shift that generates a lot of power.

Both guys pull the disc farther between there legs for even more power. You can actually get a lot of range out of both styles.

I find with Nikko's that long arm swing gives me more distance and feels easier to do but Ricky's feels so much more aggressive and hits the the chains harder. Also, with Ricky's I feel like I'm controlling more of the putt where with Nikko I'm just swinging my arm painting the pole but they magically go in.

Outside 35-40 feet, it's no contest. Nikko's is easier to get more distance because you can generate more power throwing on a hyzer and with Ricky's I have to pop the disk more flat and it's an easy mistake to release too late and nose down the disc because I'm trying to generate more power.

I love the style and accuracy of these two style and just wanted to explore with and see what others have to say.

One thing I noticed about Ricky's putt is that when he starts swinging his arm forward his wrist closes up a little and then snaps open at the release. It's more pronounced on longer putts. So while he is mostly a push putter, he does put some spin on the disc at the release. This is why his putts look so effortless. That little side step is huge too. That creates almost as much weight shift as a step-through putt.

Nikko relies more heavily on finger spring to generate power on his putt.

One thing I noticed about Ricky's putt is that when he starts swinging his arm forward his wrist closes up a little and then snaps open at the release. It's more pronounced on longer putts. So while he is mostly a push putter, he does put some spin on the disc at the release. This is why his putts look so effortless. That little side step is huge too. That creates almost as much weight shift as a step-through putt.

Nikko relies more heavily on finger spring to generate power on his putt.

You got it. I've noticed this as well. Ricky actually closes his wrist up a lot to the point where his right thumb is actually somewhere around 8 or 9 o clock. This gives him a lot of spin and snap on his putts.

Another thing to think about is that Ricky also pulls out a nasty spin putt on shots that have a low ceiling or uphill shots. He successfully uses two styles whereas I think Nikko sticks with just one.

I'm a Ricky style putter with the wrist snap at the end but a Nikko style hyzer release. For that, I use very understable putters like the APX that take very little to flip up. But they also don't crash the chains. I usually have the correct spin for the distance needed so it reduces on splash outs and bad 2nd putts if I miss.

Very easy to get distance with that combination, but I don't have their Straddle putt down yet.

For that, I use very understable putters like the APX that take very little to flip up.

I know Ricky uses (or used to use) KC Pro Aviars and of course Nikko uses Wizards (and did use Magics for a while).

I recently started using Medium Anodes which I like but have started flirting with a softer Voodoo. With Nikko swing putt the Voodoo has a lot more grip to it and seems to do better for me at longer ranges. Probably just me though. I'll use the anode inside 25-30 feet and the Voodoo for long range.

I know Ricky uses (or used to use) KC Pro Aviars and of course Nikko uses Wizards (and did use Magics for a while).

I recently started using Medium Anodes which I like but have started flirting with a softer Voodoo. With Nikko swing putt the Voodoo has a lot more grip to it and seems to do better for me at longer ranges. Probably just me though. I'll use the anode inside 25-30 feet and the Voodoo for long range.

Both are super smooth putters. I'd love to be that smooth some day, just making my putts look effortless like that. I tried the wrist snap technique for a while and it didn't work for me. The finger spring has been pretty good though. After a few months working on it pretty regularly I had my best round ever at my local course yesterday.

You got it. I've noticed this as well. Ricky actually closes his wrist up a lot to the point where his right thumb is actually somewhere around 8 or 9 o clock. This gives him a lot of spin and snap on his putts.

Another thing to think about is that Ricky also pulls out a nasty spin putt on shots that have a low ceiling or uphill shots. He successfully uses two styles whereas I think Nikko sticks with just one.

This is very true. Heard Eric McCabe saying that Ricky was a spin putter first and then picked up the push putt making him "unstoppable".

Ricky has a cool hybrid. Its dead accurate and can carry long distances as well. So fun to watch.

Yeah, Ricky made the switch to push putting sometime in 2010 or 2011. Every once in a while you see him bust out his old spin putt out of nowhere. Although he has gotten good at spin putting using his push putt stance now. If you saw his putt on hole 15 at the final round of the Memorial, it was a pure spin putt.